According to the IMD World Competitiveness Report 2023, released on Tuesday, the UAE has gained two places in the world's top ten most competitive economies.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, expressed appreciation for the effort, sincerity, dedication, and rallying around their leadership to achieve high rankings, praising the UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the UAE people.
According to Sheikh Mohammed, the UAE leads the world in several indicators, including management, energy, infrastructure, and the ability of the government to adapt to changes.
Emirates are now more competitive than countries such as Australia, Germany, South Korea, the UK, France, and Japan.
The UAE improved its 'Economic Performance' from 6th to 4th and its 'Business Efficiency' from 17th to 16th on the sub-indices.
Christos Cabolis, the chief economist of the World Competitiveness Centre, praised the UAE and other regional economies for adopting agile policies to build a resilient economy.
Today's unpredictable environment requires agility and adaptability. Countries that excel are building resilient economies, such as Ireland, Iceland, and Bahrain. Their governments are also able to adapt policies based on current economic conditions in a timely fashion. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Singapore are also key examples of this,” he said.
Globally, Denmark retained its top position followed by Ireland, Switzerland, Singapore, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Sweden, the USA and the UAE.
"As a result, more and more countries are pursuing their own interests. As multiple crises overlap and as the world divides between protectionist and open-trade economies, winners and losers are emerging," said Professor Arturo Bris, Director of the World Competitiveness Centre.
All the Gulf regional countries recorded a spike in their rankings with Qatar ranked 18 (up 6 positions), Saudi Arabia at 17 (up 7 places) and Bahrain at 25 (up 5). Kuwait joins the rankings in 2023 as the 38th largest economy in the world.